Children & Young People's Rights

Leaving Care - Important! Aftercare Support - do you qualify?

You will qualify for aftercare support if you are still being "looked after" on the date when you reach school leaving age. This is around your 16th birthday. But it is not exactly your 16th birthday. You can calculate your school leaving date by using the information below.

16th Birthday is between 1 March and 30 September
School leaving date is 31 May of that year

16th Birthday is between 1 October and following 28 February
School leaving date is first day of Christmas holidays

Here are some examples of what this means:-

Not entitled to aftercare support:

Tom was 16 on the 2 nd of April and left care on the 3 rd of April. He is not entitled to aftercare support because he left care before his school leaving date. He would have been entitled if he had stayed in care until or after the 31 st of May.

Entitled to aftercare support:

Sarah wanted her children?s hearing supervision requirement to end as soon as she reached 16 on the 5 th of December. After speaking to her children?s rights officer, she realised it would be better if the supervision requirement remained in force until at least the 21 st December.

Education (Scotland) Act 1980
The law on school leaving age is set out under sections 31 and 33 of this Act.